Chesterfield police nab fugitive

Exhausted from three days of being on the run from police and wrapped up in a sheet of carpet, Jonathan Elbers was submissive when police confronted him in a hunting blind in northeast Chesterfield Township on Sunday afternoon.

“He just gave up,” Chesterfield Township Police Chief Bruce Smith said. “He said something like ‘I’ve had it, I give up.’ I think we wore him out.”

Elbers, 23, of Tuscola County, was taken into custody without incident at 12:45 p.m. by Officer Frank Unger who found him hiding in the in the blind in a heavily wooded area north of Washington Road and east of Interstate 94. After being checked by medical personnel, he was questioned by police and then transported to the Macomb County Jail.

Elbers had been on the run since about 1 a.m. Friday after he allegedly broke into the home of a former girlfriend on Nicolette Street, bound her and tried to kill her.

Her parents, who were on vacation in Florida, called police to check on the 20-year-old woman because they were concerned about her safety after learning she was having trouble with Elbers after the two broke up.

Officers conducting a welfare check at the house were let inside by her sister. They walked through the dark house calling her name and heard the victim yell “Help me” from the basement.

As the officers began walking down the stairs, a bleeding Elbers appeared. At some point, the woman was able to strike him in the head with a porcelain figurine, opening a cut on his head.

Elbers refused with the officers’ commands and a struggle took place. Elbers was able to break free and fled outside on foot. They found the woman had been assaulted and bound, and Elbers was in the process of placing a large bag designed to cover a Christmas tree over her when police arrived.

Investigators found a rifle and duct tape inside of Elbers’ truck parked near the house. The victim told police he had threatened to shoot her and then turn the gun on himself.

Officers searched throughout the night but were not able to locate the suspect. As daylight broke, they teamed up with a number of other law enforcement agencies to search the wooded areas north of the Nicolette Street residence on Friday, using canine teams and helicopters.

On Saturday, police received word about a home invasion in the area of 25 Mile Road and New Haven Road. The homeowners, who had been on vacation, returned home to find blood in the residence and it appeared someone had been sleeping in one of the beds. Police searched the area but found no sign of the intruder.

But Unger, the arresting officer, returned to the property on Sunday afternoon to check out a hunting blind. That’s when he found the suspect, using the carpeting to either hide in or to keep warm as he slept overnight.

“The officer who found him just wouldn’t give up,” Smith said. “He started thinking about the deer blind and went back and asked the homeowner for permission to check the property again.”

Chesterfield Township police Sgt. Brad Kersten said the strong law enforcement presence -- which included the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State Police and federal agencies -- kept the suspect pinned down in the area and made it difficult for him to escape over the weekend.

“All of that manpower gave us the ability to flood the area immediately,” Kersten said. “I think if you could ask the suspect, he would say he couldn’t leave because every time he turned around, there was a police car or a uniformed officer traipsing the neighborhood. He couldn’t move. From the day we started chasing him, he didn’t leave that wooded area.”

Word of the manhunt was publicized in television, radio, newspaper, and online news reports as residents were warned that the suspect was on the loose and considered to be highly dangerous.

As news of the arrest spread on Sunday, residents were able to breathe a sigh of relief, said Brian DeMuynck, a township trustee and retired sheriff’s deputy.

“It’s good for the community to know this subject is off the streets and we don’t have to worry about him anymore,” DeMuynck said.

The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office has issued a warrant charging Elbers with assault with intent to murder, a life felony; first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony; unlawful imprisonment, a 15-year felony; and assaulting a police officer, a 4-year felony.